I am fairly new to photography, and I would love to improve my skills. Critiques would be greatly appreciated. These shots were taken in the mob of people at Union Square in New York on the night of the election.

Welcome to the forums.
The lights fought you to much here. You can't really tell whats going on.
Did you get any wider shots, to show what is going on? With these you can't tell there is a "mob", or what is happening.

What DRoberts is saying is right. I felt the same: "I don't understand what's going on here" is what I thought immediately. Then I read your explanation and kept thinking that I still couldn't quite see or recognise what you were describing. They are too close. One person in the frame cannot stand for "mob". There's that bright street light and ... cloth, for all I can see. We would need to see some wider photos in order to get to understand the context.